Central St Martins | Degree Show 2014

Central St Martins | Degree Show 2014

Central Saint Martins forms part of the University of the Arts in London & is attended by some of the most promising artists from across the World. Many of the University's graduates go on to make a real impact on the artistic landscape with their innovative & refreshing approach to creativity. The Degree show is an opportunity to experience these artists at the very beginning of their careers & provides an overall comment on the modern art scene.

Passion Palette features a sample of the artistic talent on display continuing our journey in bringing you the most exciting art of the future.

>> Ellen Camilla Rose - 'In a place other than silence' Spray paint on tissue paper

French artist, Emma Vidal, began her studies in France before opting to transfer to London after one year. She feels London provides her with more freedom of expression in comparison to her native country, which has a more academical approach to the arts. Focus is cast on historical art as well as painting classes, which receive very direct judgements. “In France you are told this is good, or that is terrible, which limits creativity & originality. In England no one refers to a work as rubbish, plenty of descriptions are used, but never one of such negative affect. I feel this serves to further the arts to evolve naturally as oppose to be controlled”.

Emma's current interest lies in religion & faith, the ultimate quests for human beings providing a comment on the last judgement before death. Her large-scale charcoal drawings cast emphasis on a society of children aimless & lost without a clear path leading them. This is said to present the vulnerability of humanity …. Emma also has two 'Worship Sculptures' on display. These figurative sculptures are cast from alternative materials with one created from charcoal & wooden pegs & the other using drawing pins. The latter is displayed to dramatic effect standing tall upon a plinth in a commanding stance. This sculpture is inspired by the ancient mongolian ritual of the sky burial.

“Exhibiting here has been a great experience, really exciting & I have met some really interesting people” comments the artist. “I get worried when people take photos of my work. I know it is flattering on one hand, but it can be quite intrusive also. I accept it as part of the modern viewing experience, but it is hard to share something that you have worked hard to create captured by someone & you have no idea where it will be shared”.

The next venture in Emma Vidal's career is a 3 month residency in the United States before she intends to return to London. “It is very hard to get a studio space in London for an artist due to the costs, but this is what I would like to do”. Emma has also had a painting touring as part of the Jerwood Drawing prize 2013 selection.

Psychoelectric is the name of a collaboration between installation artists Joseph Evans & Victor Frisch. The two met at Central St Martins whilst studying & immediately found a connection through shared artistic ideals. “We share a vision & bounce ideas off each other sharing the journey & challenging our understanding along the way. It comes together really well, which is very satisfying” says Victor. “I met Joseph when looking for a place to stay & I ended up moving in with him”. The duo were so motivated by their new found partnership that they even transformed their entire home into an immersive theatre space.

Their latest installation is titled Psychoelectric C302 & features a mass of electrical equipment & lighting. Each entrant is encouraged to wear bespoke sunglasses with the lens' removed with one lens remaining upright on the forehead. This acts as a mask for people to become completely immersed within this fabricated environment & it certainly works. Televisions, glass bottled bubbling as if part of some laboratory experiment, a suspended keyboard dangling in mid air. With each key pressed a word appears with the viewer able to construct sentences & phrases. Hold the key longer & a video loop is triggered in an interactive twist to the experiment.

“When converting our home into an installation we had to work within the confines of the preexisting structure, the building. The installation on show today was more of a challenge as we had a completely blank space. We started by creating a structure & embellishing it as we went” said the artists. Altogether the installation took 2 weeks to assemble & provides the immersive interactive environment that they set out to achieve.

A manerkin stands subtly in the corner of a dimly lit room of multiple installations, many accompanied with loud noise & video loops. This headless manerkin quietly lurks in the background in anticipation of enticing it's audience to engage in communication. Croatian artist, Nikolina Lauc has incorporated the use of twitter within her work as live twitter conversations explore the topic of fashion. Nikolina is not concerned with the latest trend, however, she is interested in communicating the stories behind what we wear. The artist spent a year going into shops replacing the labels with information on where the clothes came from & why they were so cheap in an attempt to communicate the real cost to those involved in producing the clothing. She refers to these tags as 'True Labels'.

“I am politically motivated, which comes out in my work. It is difficult to sell installation art & even more difficult to sell politically motivated installation art, but it enables me to make a statement, which is important to me” says Nikolina. “It has been difficult to put my art out in public in this exhibition, but it has been a great experience. I am not sure what I am going to do next, which is exciting as I have many possibilities”.